Fewer adults in the UK posted on social media last year

A new Ofcom survey has revealed a decline in the number of adults who posted content on social media in 2025.

Fewer adults in the UK are posting on social media.

A new survey conducted by regulator Ofcom revealed that just 49 per cent of respondents say they actively posted, commented on, or shared material on platforms such as X, Facebook and Instagram in 2025, down from a figure of 61 per cent the previous year.

Ofcom believes that this – and the discovery that people are choosing to post less permanent content – hints at a rise in “passive” social media use.

The regulator’s findings form part of its wide-ranging Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes survey exploring the population’s shifting media habits.

Its latest survey was carried out between September 29 and November 28 last year and saw more than 7,500 adults in Britain aged 16 and over asked about how they use social media, find news online and feel about their digital privacy, amongst a range of other issues.

The decline in social media posting has been attributed to digital fatigue by some experts, as young adults “crave the MySpace era” and are ditching smartphones for more rudimentary devices.

Dr Ysabel Gerrard, senior lecturer in digital media and society at the University of Sheffield, told the BBC: “When social media first became popular in the UK in mid-to-late 2000s, posting written updates, photos and videos was novel and exciting, but it’s neither of those things anymore.”

Ofcom’s survey also found less positive overall sentiment about spending time online.

Although 59 per cent of respondents saw benefits outweighing risks of being online in 2025, this figure was “down from 72 per cent last year and 71 per cent in 2023”.

However, the survey did reveal that more UK adults are using AI tools compared to previous years – increasing from 31 per cent in 2024 to 54 per cent in 2025.

Ofcom explained that this rise was driven by young people using the tech, with 80 per cent of 16-to-24-year-olds and three-quarters of 25-to-34-year-olds saying they use AI tools.